‘Paranormal Activity 3’ – From the Makers of ‘Catfish’

A fake documentary from the makers of a documentary... that might have been faked.

The documentary Catfish may not have stirred up the zeitgeist that everybody expected, despite critical acclaim and a massively overdone publicity campaign. But the film, which made my own Top Ten Films of 2010 list, was still a fascinating look at the gap between public personas and, you know, fact in the internet age, whether or not it was real. And yes, that's a real question: the film is so perfectly structured that many, including Morgan Spurlock and Zach Galifianakis, think it's a complete crock. Filmmakers Ariel Shulman and Henry Joost insist that Catfish was 100% real, a claim that might be tested withtheir next film, Paranormal Activity 3.

Oh yes, there's going to be a Paranormal Activity 3. Try to restrain your enthusiasm, or at least bask in your own ambivalence.

Schulman and Joost are directing the narrative feature (likely in a pseudo-documentary format, like the other films in the franchise) from a script by Christopher B. Landon, who previously contributed screenplays to both Paranormal Activity 2 and Disturbia. The question is: if Catfish was real, can these two filmmakers make lightning strike without the benefit of happenstance? And if Paranormal Activity 3is a solid film, will it just contribute to the argument that the filmmakers are fully capable of faking their first movie?